Modern inventory systems, such as those in storage facilities (e.g., a warehouse) operated by electronic marketplace providers, face significant challenges with respect to managing items in inventory. Current systems may lack effective resolution methods for overcoming these contentions.
For example, it may be the case that two robotic arms are utilizing an operational overlap area in the course of performing their respective tasks. For example, a robotic arm may need to utilize a space in a storage facility to place and/or retrieve an item, while another robotic arm may need to utilize the space for a similar and/or different purpose. This may cause the robotic arms to compete for that space. Additionally, it may be the case that at least one robotic arm may be unable to view the movements of the other robotic arm.
In conventional systems, a robotic device may determine that a space should be utilized for performing a task but that the space is being utilized by another device (e.g., via line of sight observance). These systems often require the robotic device to wait some period of time before attempting to utilize the contended space again. This approach may impact the throughput of the storage facility. Accordingly, current techniques may lead to delays in task completion that may affect the performance of the robotic devices operating in the storage facility individually, or as a whole. Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems, individually and collectively.